Germany / Austria / Italy

What are you using for transport, car or train?
Car would be difficult as picking up in one country and dropping off in another has a large surcharge.

For car, look up routes, times and costs in: https://www.viamichelin.com/
For trains, look up times in: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
Note there is more than one Frankfurt and Rothenburg, you want Frankfurt am Main Flughafen (the airport), and Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Hallstatt is an outlier, Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Hallstatt is 8-9 hours, and Hallstatt to Füssen is 7-8 hours. Two full days travelling.
3 nights in Füssen seems excessive. Once you have seen the two (fake) castles, and spend 1-2 hours looking round the town, that is it. But you only have a day trip to Salzburg, and no time in Munich, both of which you will be going through.

Dolomites, where exactly? Füssen to Bolzano/Bozen is 8 hours. Again a full day.
Where on Lake Como? Some places are accessable by train, some need a bus or a ferry, which adds time.

I've spent time in all the areas you're going to, and it looks like you'll have a nice vacation. Personally I prefer Salzburg to Hallstadt and Garmish to Fussen, but I expect you'll be using those towns as a base to explore the areas, so take your time and enjoy. I wish you good weather, especially while at Lake Como.

everything there but the month in 2019. When, please?

We would arrive approx July 20 and depart around the 4th or 5th of August. We plan on having a car for this journey...and we do realize the fees for dropping off in another country. We considered using trains but that mode of transit seems to take much longer.

By train, the places you have chosen are all off the main line.

That's why you need time for changes and slow train to RodT, Hallstatt (a very remote connection by train or car, by the time you get to Hallstatt maybe the day trippers will have left and you can find a parking space in the lot (I've driven to Hallstatt once in my life and won't repeat that mistake)), Füssen (why for goodness sakes are you going past Füssen on the way to Hallstatt and then backtracking all the way back?), and then back through Austria to Dolomites (like saying the Alps or Rockies - a very large range, where in the Dolomites?), then past Milan to somewhere on Lake Como (south, middle, north, peninsula?). No Venice?

By car they are a bit far to go each day.

Maybe lean less heavily on the over-touristed locations? Rothenburg and Hallstatt are no longer authentic in any way. Füssen as well. Maybe put the guidebook down...

Google maps shows the approx following drive times:

Frankfurt to Rothenburg (2.5 hours)
Rothenburg to Hallstatt (5 hours)
Hallstatt to Fussen (4 hours)
Fussen to Dolomites-Bolzano (3 hours)
Dolomites-Bolzano to Lake Como (4 hours)
Lake Como to Milan (1.5 hours)

An earlier post suggested these times are not accurate. Any thoughts?

We want enough time to explore each area and since there will be some longer drives between destinations, we felt 3 night stays were best. We are open to suggestions regarding this itinerary.

Check those driving times against what ViaMichelin.com says. That website is more often recommended, though even it is reportedly optimistic. No website is going to factor in stops, getting lost, looking for parking, etc.

ViaMichelin is showing essentially the same travel times as Google Maps. We'll need to factor traffic, wrong turns, parking etc. too.

Did you get an actual quote for the rental with drop off fees? You'll need to stop a buy a vignette for Austria. Not a big ticket item, but don't forget or it will be a big ticket item. Also get International Drivers Permits to go with your license.

or the inevitable stau on the German autobahn.

or construction.

or delays at the German/Austrian border near Salzburg - not an absolute given but I have experienced it more than once, one time was 2 and a half hours.

or stopping for toilets or food or photos of beauty.

Seriously - is there a reason (by car or by train) why you are zig-zagging instead of driving an optimized straighter route?

Have you got a place picked out on Lake Como? At least a town or village? The transportation situation is dramatically different, in both good and bad ways, depending on Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio, Como, Lecce, Tirana, or one of the little villages scattered along the shore. Really tough to give a reasonably accurate answer without. Which one catches your fancy?

No Ortisei then?

As stated, we are open to suggestions. If there is a better suited route/itinerary layout, please let us know your ideas. We haven't picked exact towns to stay in (ex: Lake Como) as we are still trying to determine our final itinerary.

If anyone wants to suggest a different route/layout please feel free to do so. If we are doing too much with our 15 days please suggest alternate ideas.

Thanks!

We haven't picked exact towns to stay in (ex: Lake Como)

So where on Lake Como have you picked?

Since you are open to suggestions, please consider this. You will have a long flight, probably be sleepy, probably jet lagged, and driving in unfamiliar territory. Are you sure you want to drive under those circumstances? Perhaps an easy train ride to Wurzburg, spend the day seeing the sights there, stay overnight, and then rent the car for the short drive to R'burg. Just food for thought.

If you consider staying the first night in Würzburg then it is an easy train ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, but I don't know if you can get a car there.

I think that 3 nights there is a lot. It is really quite a small place and while interesting it is self contained. There are other villages and towns around but Iphofen (my favourite - search on here for various reviews, it isn't in Rick's book) is east and Dinkelsbühl is south (maybe see it on the way by. The storks on the roof may be gone by then - they raise their young every year, and the TI has a video screen if you can't see them - but they were there when we passed through in early July this year).

Due south of RodT at the other end of the "Romantic Road" (think King Ludwig and romantic era music, not lovie dovie romantic) is Füssen. Very easy to reach on either the B road or the parallel autobahn. Then Salzburg (via Munich) on the way to Hallstatt (it is a long way to come back to, do it as you pass - unless you want the Fern Pass and after doing it a few times nobody does, ihmo) but there's always a first time and you might like Oberammergau. Skip Reutte. One night in Füssen should be enough, maybe 2, but it really is a one attraction kind of place, especially with the influx of the tour buses. If you hadn't had the car I would have suggested train to Munich and enjoy a little biergarten action before Austria. Salzburg again very easy by train from Munich, but if you have the car perhaps you can park under the mountain or at a hotel on Moostrasse. Very very expensive parking in Salzburg.

Hallstatt to Castelrotto (suggest Ortesei instead if you want mountains and hiking) then down to Lake Como. If you can tell us what sort of thing you'd like to achieve on Lake Como we may be able to help you choose a village or town. Parking difficult and expensive on Como unless you know where to go, and you can't see the lake or the houses from the road.

Then to Milan.

my 2 eurocents, for what they are worth

I also think 3 days in Fussen and probably Hallstat, as well, is too much and I don't think you have budgeted enough time for Salzburg unless you've been there before. I would take a day from Fussen and a day from Hallstat and stay two nights in Salzburg.

Do yourself a favor and don’t stay in Castelrotto. Look at Selva in the Val Gardena or even Colfosco or La Villa in the Alta Badia.

How about making Salzburg a stop on the way to Füssen from Halstatt rather than a day trip? I hate backtracking - it wastes precious time.

julesm has a better idea.

Will chime in to say that Hallstatt is a definite outlier and a long trip, when otherwise you have Fussen directly south of Rothenburg/other Romantic road towns. Hallstatt is pretty, and incredibly touristy. If you want similar scenery, why not the (also very touristy but more convenient) Koeningsee?

We flew from west coast into FRA and drove 1.5 hrs to Boppard immediately after. Wouldn’t do it again. Very grouchy group. Taking the train the to Wurzburg is a good idea. Pick up the car the next day.

We drove Rothenburg to Salzburg on the autobahn. We had done the romantic road years prior & weren’t overly impressed (having just visited Austria it was disappointing). Traffic is bad around Munich. Major construction going on, which may or may not be completed by then. And tons of big semis traveling this route. We had no delay at the border. Took about 6 hrs with 1 quick stop for lunch. Add another hr to get to Hallstatt.

We stayed in Salzburg, and I wished we had stayed a night in Hallstatt. It was CROWDED in June. Will be more crowded in July. I wished we had spent the night so we could see it after the day trippers left. But one night would be enough. Hallstatt is gorgeous, but easily done in a day. I would stay 2 nights near Salzburg, and spend one day in the city and one day at Konigsee/Berchtesgaden. We spent a week in Salzburg (daytripping to surrounding areas) and never got bored.

Seeing as you have a car, it is very easy to base for a week in the first two places you list and have lots to do close by. Hallstatt is gorgeous but I'd skip it this time, as it drags you way off a more direct route from Rothenburg to Lake Como. Add a night or two to Rothenburg (Iphofen, Wurzburg, Bad Wimpfen, Dinkelsbuhl, Nordlingen are options) and a night or two to Fussen (Oberammergau, Linderhof, Ettal, Wieskirche, Murnau, the gorges aroung Garmisch).

From Rothenburg to Fussen, Kempten is a nice stop, Ulm for a larger destination. On to Castelrotto, Mittenwald and Vipiteno are nice stops. On to Bellagio or Varenna, Peschiera.

"Please review our new 15 night itinerary and provide any feedback you may have."

Your goals aren't exactly clear but your destination choices indicate a preference for smaller places with nice scenery and for the Alps. Roughly correct? It's already been said but bears repeating - your particular destinations are sort of "for tourists only" places oriented toward a tour-bus, amusement-park crowd. Gundersen's suggestions for additional towns around Rothenburg would in fact be preferable IMHO to R'burg for this reason - and I like G's additional suggestions for the Füssen area better than Füssen itself as well. Hallstatt - very busy, tourists-only, pretty but little to do there. But the point is that there certainly are many other places in Germany and Austria where you might land, places that are not quite so full of tourist trappings, trinkets, etc. (which Rick Steves leans toward in spite of his "backdoor" philosophy.) And perhaps places where "exploring each area" well might actually turn up some locals doing what locals normally do (which is not serving tourists.) I think you just haven't turned enough guidebook pages yet.

Personally I would not bother with Lake Como at that time of year - too miserably crowded and hot there (like many places in Italy will be.)